The earliest reference to manumission of slaves in the colonial
laws of New Jersey was in "An Act for Regulating of Slaves,"
passed 11 March 1713/14 (New Jersey Archives, Third Series II:136-140). This legislation explicitly discouraged the freeing
of slaves and required that the manumitting slaveowner enter into
a £200 security with the crown and guarantee £20 annual
support for the freed man for life. Further, the law made void the
manumission of any slave freed by an owner's last will and testament
if the executor of the estate refused to post the £200 bond.
In 1769, this was reiterated in "An Act for laying a Duty on
the Purchasers of Slaves imported into this Colony," which
again required that at the time of manumission the slaveowner post
a £200 bond with the crown to cover any legal charges that
might be brought against the freed slave, or to fund the slave's
public support if necessary (New Jersey Archives, Third Series IV:510-512). Failure to file the bond resulted in the manumission
becoming legally void.

It was not until after the Revolutionary War that New Jersey passed
legislation providing for regular manumission of slaves. This was
in "An Act to prevent the Importation of Slaves into the State
of New Jersey, and to authorize the Manumission of them under certain
Restrictions, and to prevent the Abuse of Slaves," passed 2
March 1786 (P.L. 1786, chap. 119, p. 239). The law--considered a
great victory for the abolitionist movement--allowed for the freeing
of any slave between the ages of twenty-one and thirty-five with
the stipulation that he or she be brought before two overseers of
the poor for the township of the slaveowner's residence and two
justices of the peace of that county, and be determined by them
to be of sound mind and capable of obtaining his or her own support.
The law also prescribed the form of manumission certificate (to
be recorded by the county clerk).

Legislation in 1798 repealing the 1786 law raised the upper age
for legal manumission to forty years, and also required the signatures
of two witnesses on the manumission deed (P.L. 1798, chap. 727,
p. 364). Six years later, in 1804, the State Legislature passed
"An act for the Gradual Abolition of Slavery" (P.L. 1804,
chap. 103, p. 251). This monumental law required the registration
of births of slaves' children born after 4 July 1804 and declared
such children to be "free," but bound as servants to the
owners of their mothers for a period of twenty-five years for males
and twenty-one years for females. No provision was made for slaves
born before 4 July 1804.

"An act for the gradual abolition of Slavery, and other purposes respecting Slaves," passed by the Legislature on 24 February 1820, repealed the earlier slavery laws but essentially continued the procedure for manumission then in effect (P.L. 1820, p. 74). It is of interest to note that, in 1824, the Legislature passed a resolution in favor of establishing a foreign colony to allow for the "entire emancipation of the slaves in our country" (P.L. 1824, p. 191).
Slavery was at least nominally ended in New Jersey on 18 April 1846 by an “An Act to Abolish Slavery” (Revision of 1846, Title XI, chap. 6, p. 382-390). Under this legislation, the status of a slave was converted to that of apprentice, “… bound to service to his or her present owner, and his or her executors or administrators …” until formally released. Children born to such apprentices could be bound out as servants also, once they reached the age of six. So, while an apprentice could not be sold, exported or taken out of state, he or she remained in the service of his or her master until discharged in writing, and could still be easily separated from family.

Individuals continued to be categorized as slaves on the 1850 and 1860 New Jersey federal censuses. The forced “apprenticeship” of former slaves was not outlawed until the 13th Amendment to the United States Constitution, adopted 6 December 1865 after ratification by the sufficient number of states. New Jersey had rejected the amendment on 16 March 1865, later ratifying it on 23 January 1866.

Content Note

This
series includes original manumission papers filed by Hunterdon County
slaveowners (with overseers of the poor and justices of the peace)
as early as 1788. The documents are among those originally copied
into two manumission/slave birth books now (1993) held by the Hunterdon
County Historical Society in Flemington. Abstracts of the recorded
manumissions were published in Some Records of Old Hunterdon
County, 1701-1838 by Phyllis B. D'Autrechy (Trenton: 1979),
pp. 147-157, 173-196, 201-204. Well over 500 acts of manumission
during the period 1787-1856 are recorded in the Hunterdon County
manumission books, while original papers for only 56 are included
here.

This series is arranged chronologically. The items have been listed
below using the following format: name of slaveowner: name
of slave (age if recorded), other identifying information if included,
location, date [remarks]. To aid in research, three name
indexes have been added following the contents list.

Lewis
W. R. Phillips: Nancy or Ann (aged 35), Lawrence Twp., 4 April 1829
[Accession #2005.008; apparently an original certificate retained
by the former slave or slaveowner, not recorded in the county manusmission
book].